Syria's internally displaced languish in squalor at Turkish border

On the northern edge of this war-torn country, barely 100 meters from the Turkish border, thousands of desperate Syrians slept in the dirt.

They were hard to spot at first, hidden among ancient olive groves.

But as the sun rose, bodies stirred beneath filthy blankets, next to pitiable shelters of plastic sheets strung up between olive trees.

Children began scavenging in surrounding fields for twigs to use for cooking fires. Women lined up next to a water tank pumping milky, chalky water presumed to have given many residents of this make-shift camp diarrhea.

A month ago, there was no camp here.

Syrian refugees living in olive orchards

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Two huge explosions rock Damascus

Syrian kids' reality stark, shocking

But now rebels from a local Free Syrian Army group that slept in a tent with the words "police office" spray-painted on it estimated there were between 5,500 and 6,000 people living here, with more arriving every day.

More: War marks highest daily death toll

"I came here because my house was destroyed," said Youssef Dabul, an English-speaking 30-year-old man who said he used to manage a KFC restaurant in Aleppo.

"I never imagined in all my life to come here and live under the olive trees."

Many of the residents told similar stories of rockets and airstrikes pummeling their villages and towns, forcing them to flee their homes.

Ousama Hamdou sat on a plastic mat under a tree holding his 2-year-old daughter, Maram. Long, wide scars stretched across her chest, still pink from the explosion last month that left her badly burned.

"I don't know what exploded, whether it was a rocket or a bomb," Hamdou said. The blast destroyed his home in the battleground city of Aleppo, in a flashpoint neighborhood called Sakari.

When a reporter asked "how are you?" in Arabic to Maram, she didn't respond. Hamdou explained that the explosion left the little girl deaf.

In his other arm, he held Maram's one-and-a-half-month old brother, whose face was covered with insect bites.

"He's being bitten by mosquitoes, and he has diarrhea and fever," Hamdou said, adding that he and his family of eight had already spent more than two weeks waiting here by the border for the Turks to let them in.

"Every day that we stay here we come closer to dying."

For more than a year, Turkey maintained what it described as an "open door policy" for Syrian refugees fleeing their government's military assaults.

Turkish border guards met families who escaped to the border fence with vans and buses that transported them to camps that foreign dignitaries have frequently described as clean, well-managed and orderly.

More: Witness says scores killed in massacre south of Damascus

But over the last month, the refugee population in Turkey has swelled to more than 87,000 people, prompting Ankara to at least partially shut its "open door" policy as the Turkish government struggles to build more camps.

"Our speed of constructing camps... cannot compete with the pace of the violence of the Ba'ath regime against its own people," said Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal, in a phone interview with CNN.

"There is no policy change," another Turkish official insisted, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We intend to continue this policy of open door as long as we can. The thing is, our capabilities are being strained."

"We've started to extend humanitarian aid, food, medicine, to the zero point on the border," the official added. "That's the best we can do at the moment."

There were signs of food distribution and delivery of basic supplies at the olive orchard camp.

But no international aid organizations appeared to have a presence here.

As parents have watched their children succumb to disease due to the filthy conditions, tempers have periodically flared.

"I'm ready to beg (Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip) Erdogan to help us," said a man dressed in a track suit who called himself Abu Saleh. He showed a laminated card that identified him as an FSA fighter. But Abu Saleh explained he quit the rebel movement after his wife was killed by a government airstrike last month. Now the former rebel was trying to transport his surviving children to safety in Turkey.

An hour later, Abu Saleh led a procession of about 100 men and boys past piles of burning garbage, to the barbed wire border fence. There, under the eyes of Turkish gendarme officers watching from a guard tower that overlooked the camp, the refugees held a futile protest, begging the Turks to let them in.

"Erdogan, Erdogan, today we sleep in Turkey," the crowd chanted.

More: Report details Syrian children's horror stories

"We want to send a message to the leaders of the Arab world, of the Islamic world, they abandoned us," Abu Saleh yelled. "And the first one who let us down was Obama."

As the crowd chanted, a lone Turkish municipal employee worked a few meters away on the Turkish side of the fence, spreading mortar onto a recently constructed cinder block wall.

In the Syrian village below the camp, hundreds of other displaced families had taken shelter in schools and a village mosque.

There were new arrivals every day.

A pickup truck loaded with at least 30 people and their belongings rolled up outside of one of the schools Wednesday. A woman who only gave the name Um Mohamed said this wasn't the first time her family vacated their homes in the village of Kafr Zeita, near the city of Hama.

"We fled our homes many times before to neighboring villages," she said, still sitting in the back of the loaded truck. "But now we can't stay there... the situation is very, very bad. Rockets and bombs, falling day and night."

Um Mohamed's family also wanted to go to Turkey.

Since Turkish authorities were only allowing a few hundred refugees to enter every day, some Syrians resorted to desperate tactics to escape their country.

Under the cover of pre-dawn darkness, a family of at least 10 stood quietly in fields not far from the Turkish border fence. With a signal from a smuggler, they then walked single-file toward the border, carrying suitcases and bags on their heads.

The family then began crawling, one by one, through the barbed wire fence. Suddenly, flashlights flared in the darkness.

A squad of Turkish gendarme soldiers ran along the fence toward the refugees, bellowing at the top of their lungs. Moments later, the family members came stumbling back to Syria, still clutching their suitcases.

Anti-Muslim filmmaker arrested: prosecutor

LOS ANGELES: Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the filmmaker behind the video that sparked protests across the Muslim world, was arrested Thursday, the Los Angeles district attorney's office said.

"I can confirm he's in custody, scheduled to make a court appearance as we speak, in federal court in downtown LA," Thom Mrozek of the United States Attorney's Office told AFP, giving no further details.

The exact nature of the court appearance is unclear, because the federal court documents have been sealed. Officials have been investigating whether he may have violated probation terms for a previous offense.

The alleged filmmaker was expected to make his appearance via video-conference, local media reported.

Nakoula -- allegedly the real identity behind the pseudonym Sam Bacile, the director of "Innocence of Muslims" -- was briefly taken into custody earlier this month for questioning by his probation officer.

He was traced to a home address in Cerritos, south of Los Angeles, after international protests erupted against the video, a 14-minute trailer for which was posted online.

In February 2009, a federal indictment accused Nakoula and others of fraudulently obtaining the identities and Social Security numbers of customers at several Wells Fargo branches in California and withdrawing $860 from them.

Police: Pakistani teen innocent of blasphemy, but case continues

14-year-old Pakistani girl who had faced life in prison for allegedly burning the Quran will have her case heard in juvenile court, the girl's lawyer told CNN.

A local court ordered the transfer on Monday, Tahir Naveed Choudhry said.

Pakistani police told CNN their investigation concluded Rimsha Masih is innocent and was framed by an imam.

"There was no legal evidence against Rimsha," officer Munir Jafri told CNN.

Teen blasphemy suspect speaks out

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Locals react to girl's blasphemy arrest

Girl arrested on blasphemy charges

These developments could mark an end to the Christian teen's nightmare since she was accused of blasphemy in August.

"This is a precursor to the case ending, and that is quite unprecedented in the 25-year history of Pakistan's blasphemy laws," said Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistan director of Human Rights Watch.

Police have submitted the findings to the court. Pakistan courts usually go with what police recommend.

There is a lot of evidence implicating imam Khalid Jadoon Chishti for framing the teenager and for himself tearing pages out of the holy book, Jafri told CNN.

This is significant, said Human Rights Watch's Hasan, because "never before has a false accuser been held accountable."

The teen's case sparked international outcry against the Pakistani government, some saying the blasphemy laws are used to settle scores and persecute religious minorities.

Blasphemy laws have been a part of life in Pakistan for 25 years, first instituted primarily to keep peace between religions, Hasan said.

But a military leader in Pakistan in the middle 1980s tightened the laws, introducing amendments that "essentially made blasphemy a capital offense," Hasan said.

"They were vaguely worded ... and became an instrument of coercion and persecution," he said. "The laws were disproportionately used against the weakest and most vulnerable in society -- religious minorities, women, children and the poor."

There have been 1,400 blasphemy cases since 1986, according to Hasan. There are more than 15 cases of people on death row for blasphemy in Pakistan, and 52 have been killed while facing trial for the charge, Hasan said.

Rimsha was arrested on August 16.

She and her family spoke to CNN in early September from an undisclosed location, in hiding after Rimsha was released on bail -- a move that appeared to be in reaction to the global condemnation of her jailing.

The teen said she was happy to be with her family, but feared for her life.

"I'm scared," she said by phone. "I'm afraid of anyone who might kill us."

The teen spoke in short sentences, answering "yes" or "no" in a shy and nervous voice.

In Pakistan, people accused of blasphemy are often attacked and sometimes killed by vigilantes.

During CNN's interview with her, Rimsha said, "No, no," when asked if she burned pages of the Quran.

She wouldn't answer questions about what happened on August 16.

Pakistani investigators said Rimsha's neighbor accused her of burning pages of the Quran to use as cooking fuel. The neighbor began to shout in protest, drawing a crowd that grew angry. Some neighbors said the teenager was beaten. Others said she ran back home and locked herself inside. When police arrived, they arrested her.

Rimsha's lawyers said the neighbor wanted to settle a personal score with the girl because the two didn't get along. They said it's likely that he liked the teen and she didn't feel the same.

While the latest turn in her case this week appears largely positive, her ordeal is far from over.

The next hearing in Rimsha's case is set for October 1 in juvenile court.

Most victims of Pakistan's blasphemy laws belong to minority Muslim sects like the Ahamadis, who many of Pakistan's majority Sunnis perceive as nonbelievers, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Human Rights Watch.

Rimsha's father, Mizrak Masih, is a Christian. He paints houses for a few dollars a day.

He was adamant that no one in his family would dishonor the Quran.

"We respect the Quran just like we respect the Bible," he said. "We couldn't imagine committing blasphemy, let alone doing it. Our children would never do this either."

A family representative said that aid groups in the United States, Italy and Canada have offered to the teen and her family a home outside Pakistan.

But no matter how her case pans out, it's unclear what kind of life she might be able to have. She told CNN in September that she wanted to stay in her home country.

People will believe what they want to believe, no matter what the courts or police say, Hasan said.

"She is certainly in grave danger," he said. "It's the accusation that endangers your life, and can endure."

Thousands protest austerity measures in Greece

Thousands of Greeks took to the streets Wednesday to protest new austerity measures that critics described as draconian.

The protests -- the first general strike since Greece's new coalition government was formed in June -- come amid the nation's struggling economy and soaring debt.

Greece has agreed to a harsh austerity program and labor market reforms, which have led to violent street demonstrations and crippling unemployment in the past.

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Greece's disappearing middle class

Greek minister sees 'great sacrifices'

The Greek government is seeking new ways to implement budget cuts of 11.5 billion euros ($14.49 billion) to ensure the country receives another international bailout installment in October.

More than 25,000 people had gathered for peaceful protests in Athens by early afternoon, said Greek police spokesman Panagiotis Papapetropoulos.

But as large numbers began to assemble in Athens and other cities Wednesday, Constantine Michalos, president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, said he hoped the strikes would not turn violent.

The strike is organized by the two biggest unions in the country and many are tired of years of government-imposed, belt-tightening measures that have not worked, according to Michalos.

"The Greek people have taken up tremendous sacrifices in this time period and it just has not delivered the desired results," Michalos said. "Where we need to concentrate today is not on further austerity measures, because there has been extreme sacrifices made Greek people in the last three years, what we need to is advance growth and stimulate the economy.

Obama on world stage: More hope than change?

Editor's note: David Rothkopf is CEO and editor-at-large of the FP Group, publishers of Foreign Policy Magazine and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

(CNN) -- A couple weeks after attending his first United Nations General Assembly meeting as president, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. What a difference three years makes.

Back in his first months in office, simply being Barack Obama was enough to bring cheering crowds into the street. Whether it was because he was not George Bush or because he was promising to end American policies that were widely despised or whether it was because -- as the first African-American to be elected U.S. president, he embodied an ideal of opportunity for all that was core to this country's appeal -- it hardly mattered. Convene a crowd, and they would find something to like about Barack Obama.

Back then, he seized the moment with great speeches that offered a vision for a new era in American leadership. In Cairo, he spoke of new relations with the Islamic world. In Prague, he spoke of eliminating nuclear weapons. He embraced the G-20 as a mechanism of coordinating the response to the global economic crisis. He didn't bully. He charmed.

Indeed, Obama is probably the first person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize largely for his charm. Or, alternatively, he may be the first person ever to have won the Nobel Peace Prize for the simple achievement of not having been the guy who had the job before him. (This can be an important achievement. Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Pete Peterson once said one of the secrets to job success is picking the right predecessor.)

Obama to UN: No excuse for attacks

Obama warns Iran at UN

Obama: We cannot ban blasphemy

It was a great start. But the problem with great speeches of the kind Obama delivered then is that they contain promises and if those promises are not kept future speeches not only ring hollow, they are reminders of what has not been fulfilled. As President Obama prepared to deliver his remarks Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, the world that had been so supportive had turned less receptive. The echoes of his Cairo speech seemed very faint indeed as neither Obama nor Mohammed Morsy, Egypt's new president, seemed to know how to characterize the U.S. relationship with that country, once an important ally in the region. Further, the hope for a new relationship with Islam seemed deeply damaged in the wake of recent anti-American protests and the killings in Benghazi, Libya.

The Prague speech's promise of a world without nuclear weapons was predicated on the idea that the world's two most important nuclear powers, the United States and Russia, would move to a more constructive relationship. That has not happened. The relationship is deeply strained. And the threat of proliferation of nuclear weapons to Iran was a central subject of the president's remarks today. He said such a threat could not be contained and therefore the United States would not tolerate it arising. But clearly, the question mark associated with past unkept promises hung in the air over that firmly delivered assertion.

Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on the assumption that he would be the president who got the United States out of the wars in the greater Middle East that had cause so much dissent during the Bush presidency. But Obama subsequently chose to increase the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. He serially violated national borders with special operations missions, drones and cyber-attacks. He changed U.S. doctrine but seemed to continue to embrace a "we'll do what we choose" American exceptionalism. The notion that the Middle East is itself somehow more peaceful today than it was when he received that prize is ludicrous.

The United States has turned away from the G-20 as the primary mechanism of global economic cooperation. Indeed, the president has turned away from the United Nations for campaign purposes, stopping only for a speech and campaign press appearances, not to meet with international leaders.

It would be wrong to suggest that President Obama is solely responsible for these developments. He could no more control the Arab street than he could the behind-the-scenes machinations of a tin-pot thug like Vladimir Putin. He has racked up some considerable foreign policy achievements as well. America is out of Iraq. Bin Laden is dead. So too is Ghadafi. The U.S. economy is slowly turning a corner. And the president has been blessed with an adversary in this campaign who responds to every potential crisis for the president with a bigger self-inflicted crisis for his own campaign. Indeed, it sometimes seems that the GOP would be better running with no candidate at all than the one they have got.

Speaking to the United Nations, President Obama tried to evoke the strength and promise of that first year. His language was soaring and his themes were resonant. He evoked the kind of understanding for international perspectives that were signatures of that first year in office. Of the costs to the Middle East of intolerance. Of the strength of American values like free speech and government for, by and of the people. It was apparent once again that this was a compassionate president and a man of good values. But for every strong assertion that echoed through the hall, the echoes of three years of past speeches added a question: Are good values enough? Can this president, any president, any man or woman, deliver the results that would have warranted that premature prize Barack Obama was awarded in 2009?

Was it not so much an award to a man as it was to an idea of the leadership we have ever since needed but have yet to find? Barack Obama right now has his sights clearly set on the challenge of winning the November election. But for him, that is a far smaller hurdle than what awaits if he wins: one last chance to live up to the hope that ushered him into office, one last chance to earn the prize he has already won.

Pakistan beat Bangladesh to reach Super Eight

PALLEKELE: Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by eight wickets in a high-scoring Group D match to qualify for the next stage of Super Eight in the ICC World Twenty20 Cricket 2012 here at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Chasing a rather difficult target of 176, Pakistan easily completed their second consecutive victory losing just two wickets with eight balls remaining.
Imran Nazir and captain Mohammad Hafeez batted brilliantly to make 124 runs. This was Pakistan’s second opening partnership and the fourth for any wicket in T20 International cricket.
Imran smashed 72 off 36 balls with three sixes and nine fours whereas Hafeez made 45 with six fours.
Nasir Jamshed and Kamran Akmal scored 29 and 22, respectively and both remained not out.
Earlier, allrounder Shakib Al Hasan smashed a 54-ball 84 to steer Bangladesh to 175-6 in the allotted 20 overs after captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and decided to bat first.
This was the 25-year-old left-hander’s second Twenty20 fifty as he added 68 runs for the third wicket with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (25).
Shakib, whose previous T20 best of 57 came against Ireland at Belfast earlier this year, smashed 11 boundaries and two sixes during his 54-ball knock, improving Nazimuddin's previous best of 81, against Pakistan at Nairobi in 2007.
Pakistan were sloppy in the field, with Sohail Tanveer dropping a sitter off Rahim and Shahid Afridi failing to hold on to a sharp chance off Hasan -- both in one Yasir Arafat over.
New Zealand had already qualified for the round of eight from Group D.
Now Pakistan will play their first match in Super Eight against South Africa on September 28. Later they will face India on September 30 and Australia on October 2.

PAF base in Kamra attacked

Seven heavily armed militants stormed the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) Minhas airbase at Kamra during the early hours of Thursday, sparking an intense gun battle lasting almost five hours.
The militants were said to be armed with automatic weapons, grenades and suicide vests. Intense exchange of fire between militants and security forces ensued after the attackers infiltrated the base located in Attock, Punjab.

PAF officials confirmed that all seven attackers had been killed. One Pakistani soldier also lost his life in the attack, confirmed officials.

Afghan police commander, officers defect to Taliban

HERAT: An Afghan police commander and 12 junior officers have defected to the Taliban after poisoning seven comrades, government officials in the western province of Farah said on Tuesday.

The commander, named only as Mirwais, was in charge of a checkpoint in the Bala Boluk district when he and his unit defected to the Taliban and handed over their equipment and weapons, including military vehicles.

"He was a police commander for a checkpoint in Shewan village. He joined the Taliban with a Humvee, a Ranger (SUV), radios and 20 guns," said Abdul Rahman Zwandai, a spokesman for the Farah governor.

The seven police were poisoned because they refused to join the rebellion, he said. All were taken to the Farah hospital and an investigation would be launched.

Farah, bordering Iran, is one of western Afghanistan's most insecure provinces, although the west is relatively secure compared to insurgent strongholds in the east and south.

The defection was the first time that police had joined the Taliban and taken so much equipment with them, Zwandai said, and will worry Western backers looking to hand security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

But national intelligence officials denied reports in some Afghan media that two members of the country's High Peace Council, which leads government efforts to reconcile with the Taliban, had also defected to the insurgency.

"I'm not sure anyone from the HPC would have joined the Taliban," said National Directorate of Security deputy spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri.

Mohammad Hashim Grani, who heads the Peace Council in southeast Zabul province, said earlier this week that HPC members Mawlavi Mohammad Aziz and Mawlavi Mohammad Zeba were still backing the government, despite going missing amid Taliban claims they had defected.

"They are in villages to infiltrate the Taliban and meet more and more people," Grani said. "Very soon they will turn back."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani premier Raja Pervez Ashraf said this week during talks in Kabul that Peace Council head Salahuddin Rabbani would soon travel to Pakistan for talks on the stalled Afghan peace process. (Reuters)

MQM delegation meets ANP leaders

ISLAMABAD: A delegation from the MQM met with ANP leaders here on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media following the meeting, MQM leader Farooq Sattar said action should be taken against criminals in Karachi.

Sattar added that the ANP had been invited to MQM headquarters nine zero and contact between the two parties would continue.

Sattar told reporters that the government's writ should be established in Karachi.

ANP leader Haji Adeel also stated that indiscriminate action should be taken against mafias and criminals in Karachi.

He added that meetings between the ANP and MQM were an important step for the country.

No one is safe in Balochistan: CJ

ISLAMABAD: During proceedings of the Balochistan law and order case, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remarked that no one was safe in the province as people were being killed irrespective of their sect.
A three member bench heard the law and order case on Wednesday and was informed by the Advocate General (AG) that the situation only affected 200 out of the provinces 6.5 million residents. The AG further said that writing that there was a failure in maintaining law and order was not possible.
Justice Khilji Arif remarked that it seemed like the administration had given up on law and order in the province and asked if the provincial government could not maintain peace what was the responsibility of the federal government?
The lawyer for the federation replied that the federal government could not take any steps in the province.
The President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Yasin Azad said the Balochistan issue was getting out of hand and no one wanted to talk about the real issues in the province.
The lawyer for the agencies said the FC would implement orders, to which the Chief Justice said that the FC should give in writing when it will produce the missing persons.

Three killed in different firing incidents in Karachi

KARACHI: Three people were shot dead in different incidents of firing in the metropolis on Thursday, Geo News reported.

Two people were killed by unknown gunmen in Ilyas Goth area of Liaqatabad. According to police, the incident is a result of rivalry between two groups who are allegedly involved in drug trafficking.

Two people were also injured in a separate firing incident in C-One area of Liaqatabad.

Unidentified miscreants targeted two men in a passenger bus moving from Karachi to Hyderabad at Teen Hatti area. As a result of the assault, one man died on the spot while the other was critically wounded, the bus conductor told Geo News.

The two men had got on the bus from Baloch Para.

The target killing incident took place in the Jamshed Quarter police station limits.

11 year old girl assaulted in Gujranwala

GUJRANWALA: An eleven year old girl working as a maid was assaulted and then thrown on the road. Her arms and legs were broken; she had received wounds to the head and had burns all over her body.

The girl was found in critical condition near a gutter line by Edhi workers who took her to the district headquarters hospital.

When conscious the girl revealed that she had been working as a maid for a year and a half however authorities have not been able locate her family nor the house she was employed at.

The Child Protection Bureau Gujranwala has taken the girl into their custody.

Mazhar Majeed appeals against fixing verdict

LONDON: Sports agent Mazhar Majeed jailed over a cricket fixing sandal has appealed against his conviction.

Majeed was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. Three Pakistani cricketers also received custodial sentences at London's Southwark Crown Court in November over a scandal that rocked world sport.

Former Test captain Salman Butt was jailed for two and a half years for his role as the "orchestrator" of a plot to bowl deliberate no-balls in the 2010 Lord's Test against England.

Mohammad Asif, the former world number two Test bowler, was sentenced to

12 months.

Mohammad Amir, who had been tipped to become one of the all-time great

fast bowlers, was sentenced to six months.

All three players are serving five-year bans from cricket imposed by the

International Cricket Council (ICC).

Amir and Butt failed in an attempt to have their sentences reduced at

the Court of Appeal in November.

US drone attack kills eight in North Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH: At least eight persons were killed and several others injured when a US drone attacked a house in North Waziristan Agency on early Saturday morning, Geo News reported.

According to sources, two missiles hit and destroyed the compound in

Shawal area, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.As a result of strike, the compound was completely destroyed and eight people were killed and several others wounded.

Four drones were flying in the area after the missile attack as a result rescue work was also delayed.

The identity of those killed could not be ascertained yet

Normalcy returns to Lyari

KARACHI: Life in Lyari was troubled when security forces launched an operation against criminal elements in the area more than a week ago, but now the local residents have breathed a sigh of relief after the operation was halted for 48 hours, Geo News reported Saturday.

Business activities started to resume today while the schools were also open. The electricity supple was suspended in the area after miscreants damaged supply lines by hand grenades and rocket launchers at Cheel Chowk. Some houses were also damaged during the battle that forced the residents to migrate to safer areas.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik had announced on Friday that soon a major operation would be launched against criminals in Lyari, hours after the Sindh police chief Mushtaq Shah said the weeklong operation in the area was being halted for 48 hours.

“It [the weeklong action] was not exactly an operation; rather, it was a targeted attack to capture certain criminal elements taking refuge in the area,” Malik told a press conference at the Central Police Office.

The announcement comes amid a growing criticism of the police operation that left at least 30 people dead and scores injured in Lyari, a stronghold of the ruling Pakistan People Party, over the past eight days.

“This time around, a lot more people will be accompanying the police,” said Malik, who was flanked by Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Shah and various high-ranking officials of District South.

The interior minister said that at present the majority of criminals were residing in Lyari and, if a comprehensive operation took place in the area, it would “completely clean Karachi of criminals.”

“At present, there are 200 criminals in Lyari, including members of proscribed organisations taking refuge in the area,” he said, referring to Al-Qaeda, Jaish-e- Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sepah-e-Sahaba and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

IG Mushtaq Shah said the police were very much capable to handle the situation in Lyari and said it was not at all a “professional mistake.” “We will definitely go after them. Maybe within 48 hours,” he added cautiously before walking out.

IG Shah said that the Sindh government had decided to provide facilities to the public, as the operation had left the people of Lyari facing extreme food shortages.

PTI, PML-N to stage rallies today

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has finalised preparations to stage a march in support of the judiciary here today (Sunday), a day after the PML-N held an impressive public meeting in Taxila.


Banners and portraits of Imran Khan and local leaders have been displayed at prominent intersections and market places to highlight the significance of the proposed event.


Dr Shahzad Wasim, who was once a close aide of ex-President General (R) Pervez Musharraf, also put up his portraits at various points across the federal capital.


The PTI chairman Imran Khan will lead the march from China Chowk to D-Chowk, where he will speak to the participants. Other senior leaders including Javed Hashmi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi are also expected to speak on the occasion.


During a recent news conference, the PTI chief had announced to hold the solidarity march in the federal capital in support of the Supreme Court and its Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.


“The rulers are by design flouting the apex court's judgments and orders to hide their corruption and push the country towards chaos and anarchy,” asserted PTI central spokesman Zahid Hussain Kazmi while talking to The News here.


The PTI spokesman reiterated his party's stance that after the Supreme Court conviction of Gilani, he was no more the chief executive of the country. He is not even an MNA now after his conviction. He must go home he asserted.


Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will hold a massive rally against the prime minister in Gujranwala.

Addressing a press conference, PML-N leader Zaeem Qadri and Khurram Dastagir announced to hold rally against the prime minister here

Power outage delays 30 operations at JPMC

KARACHI: Due to suspension of electricity supply at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi for several hours, 30 operations were delayed in the main operating theater, Geo News reported Friday.

According to sources, the patients were severely disturbed as the electricity of the hospital was suspended at 8 am. The standby generator of the hospital was also not functioning that deferred at least 30 operations.

Joint Deputy Director JPMC, Dr Seemi Jamali told that the supply was resumed after two hours but the reason of the outage is still unknown

Pakistan deports Bin Laden’s family to Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: Government of Pakistan has deported Osama bin Laden’s family to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia following the orders of the court,  News reported Frday.

Since the al Qaeda leader’s killing in Abbottabad by American Special Forces almost a year ago, his next of kin were under house arrest in Pakistan.

The Ministry of Interior, which was responsible for the family, issued a statement saying it had "passed orders for the deportation of 14 members of OBL family in pursuance of the Court orders".

"The family was kept safe and sound in a guest house ...They have been deported to the country of their choice, Saudi Arabia, today," it added.

According to latest reports, a chartered plane with bin Laden’s widows and children on board took off from Islamabad airport early on Friday morning.

The move ends months of speculation about the fate of the family, who were detained by Pakistani security forces after the May 2 raid.

"Yes, they're being deported to Saudi Arabia," said Aamir Khalil, the family lawyer. "It is a special flight, and they're looking to depart in the next hour and a half or so."

At the guesthouse in Islamabad where the family was being held, a white minivan pulled up to take them to the airport, where a charter flight was waiting. The women refused to enter the van with a crush of media around it, so officials covered its windows with plastic sheets.

Earlier this month, a court sentenced the women to 45 days in prison for entering Pakistan illegally. It ordered their deportation after the prison term, which began on March 3 when they were formally arrested.

Once outside Pakistan, the family could reveal details about how the world's most wanted man was able to hide in Pakistan for years, possibly assisted by elements of its powerful military and spy agency.

Any revelations about ties to bin Laden could embarrass Pakistan and anger Washington, which had been hunting bin Laden since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Pakistani officials describe bin Laden's long presence in the hill-town of Abbottabad as a security lapse and reject suggestions that members of the military and intelligence service were complicit in hiding him there.

Operation against criminal elements in Lyari

KARACHI: Three people have been injured in the Agra Taj Colony area of Lyari as the operation against criminal elements continues.

Earlier when the early morning operation began, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) were fired at security personnel during an early morning search operation in Lyari’s hostile pockets.

Sources say when the police, backed by Frontier Corps, tried to penetrate the strongholds of warring gangsters during the predawn hours they were met with severe resistance.

A volley of RPGs and heavy arms' fire forced the security personnel to retaliate, sources added.

“The thunder of guns shook us out of sleep only to plunge us into fear”, a local resident told Geo News.

Shots fired form both sides took toll on the vehicles, which were being used as covers as shards of shattered windscreens could be seen all over the place in the battle zone, said an eye witness giving an account of the armed combat.

Taliban gunmen attack Bannu jail, nearly 400 inmates escape

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Nearly 400 prisoners escaped from a jail in northwest Pakistan early on Sunday after it was attacked by militants armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades, a senior police official said.

Some who fled the jail in the town of Bannu, near tribal areas close to the Afghan border, were militants, an intelligence official said.

According to Bannu Jail Superintendent around 500 militants attacked the prison in the wee hours.

One inmate who escaped was on death row for involvement in an attempt to assassinate former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a second police official said.

Pakistan's al Qaeda-linked Taliban movement, which has close links to al Qaeda, said its fighters mounted the assault, which triggered clashes. Several people were wounded.

"We have freed hundreds of our comrades in Bannu in this attack. Several of our people have reached their destinations, others are on their way," a Taliban spokesman said.

The claim could not be immediately verified.

A police official identified one of the inmates who escaped as a "dangerous prisoner" named Adnan Rasheed who took part in one of the attempts to kill Musharraf.

"He was a mastermind in (one of the attacks) on Musharraf. These people came for him and took another 383 people too," the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Police and intelligence officials said only some of the prisoners who escaped were militants.

"Dozens of militants attacked Bannu's central jail in the early hours of the morning, and over 300 prisoners have escaped," senior police official Mir Sahib Jan told Reuters.

"There was intense gunfire, and rocket-propelled grenades were also used."

Paramilitary troops and security forces surrounded Bannu Central Jail. Of a total 944 prisoners in the jail, 384 escaped, said another police official.

Militants apparently targeted six jail blocks in the attack, he said

Siachen tragedy: US, Norway, China teams reaching site today

SKARDU: The search and rescue operation for retrieving Pakistan Army soldiers and civilians trapped in the Gayari sector avalanche is continuing at full speed.

Rescue teams from the US, Norway and China will be arriving in Siachen on Sunday as the weather is said to be clear.

German and Swiss experts had pointed out three preferential spots, where rescue work is underway. The experts have advised using traditional digging tools instead of deploying heavy machinery at these probable points.

Over 550 persons including Army soldiers, locals and foreign experts are participating in the search and rescue operation, while eight US experts besides Norway and China rescue teams arriving in Sunday would join in the operation at Gayari sector providing their professional expert assistance

Coordinated suicide attacks rock Afghanistan

KABUL: Suicide bombers struck across Afghanistan in coordinated attacks Sunday, with explosions and gunfire rocking the diplomatic enclave in the capital as militants took over a hotel and tried to enter parliament.

Taliban insurgents claimed the attacks in Kabul with a spokesman saying by mobile phone text message that "a lot of suicide bombers" were involved.

Outside the capital, attackers also targeted government buildings in Logar province, the airport in Jalalabad, and a police facility in the town of Gardez in Paktia province.

Witnesses said suicide bombers had taken over the newly-built Kabul Star hotel, which was reportedly on fire in an area which includes a major US military base, the United Nations office and the presidential palace.

The area was sealed off by security forces.

Several other attackers tried to enter the Afghan parliament but were engaged by security forces and driven back, an official said.

They had taken cover in a building near the parliament and fighting was ongoing, parliamentary media officer Qudratullah Jawid told AFP.

Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoubi Salangi told AFP at least one attacker had been killed as fighting raged in several locations in the capital.

"Near the parliament, the first floor of a neighbouring building has been taken by police and one terrorist is dead," he said.

In two other areas of the city militants had taken positions in tall buildings and "are firing", he said.

A police spokesman said the areas under attack were the diplomatic enclave of Wazir Akbar Khan in the centre, parliament in the west and District Nine in the south.

South of Kabul in Logar province, several suicide attackers entered government buildings, including the offices of the provincial governor, police headquarters and a US base, deputy provincial police chief, Raees Khan told AFP.

In eastern Afghanistan two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gates of Jalalabad airport, wounding several people, General Jahangir Azimi, the airport's head of police said.

In Gardez, also in the east, multiple Taliban gunmen -- believed to be armed with suicide vests -- launched an attack on a police training centre, Rohullah Samoon the provincial spokesman told AFP.

They occupied a building overseeing the facility and opened fire with machine-guns, he said, wounding four civilians.

As the Kabul attacks began, several large explosions and bursts of gunfire were heard near the United States embassy.

The embassy sounded alarms and warned staff to take cover, AFP reporters heard from their office near the embassy in the Wazir Akbar Khan area, which houses many diplomatic missions.

The incidents come as Taliban militants step up their attacks as part of their annual spring offensive, heralding the so-called "fighting season".

In September last year Taliban attacks targeting locations including the US embassy and headquarters of foreign troops in Kabul killed at least 14 during a 19-hour siege.

And in August, nine people, including a New Zealand special forces soldier, were killed when suicide bombers attacked the British Council cultural centre.

NATO has about 130,000 troops supporting the government of President Hamid Karzai against the Taliban insurgency, but they will pull out by the end of 2014, handing control of security to Afghan forces. (AFP)

Gunmen attack Bannu jail, 400 inmates escape

BANNU: Unknown assailants stormed Central Jail Bannu with heavy gunfire, emptying the jail of its 400 inmates, Geo News reported.

Dozens of police guards and attackers were injured in the cross firing. The injured have been rushed to district hospital.

According to police sources, unknown militants attacked Bannu Central Jail with heavy gunfire. Rocket launchers were also used in the attack.

Jail administration has asked for more police force to tackle the situation. Heavy contingent of FC and army have arrived for police assistance.

Mexicans return beached whale to sea

MEXICO CITY: Volunteers and Navy personnel returned a 12-tonne whale to the sea after it became stranded on a beach in the southwestern Mexican city of Oaxaca, officials said Saturday.

About 150 volunteers worked with over 40 Marines for 12 hours Friday on the Pacific Coast beach to keep the whale alive and maneuver it back into the water.

Local military commanders ordered marine environmental protection officers, underwater specialists and other Navy personnel "to help the whale return to the sea," the Navy said in a statement.

The marines used two patrol boats, a smaller boat and vehicles to move the whale off the beach and back into the ocean.

The nine-meter (30-foot) whale suffered injuries to its right flipper, apparently from lying on its side on the beach, the Navy statement said. (AFP)

Will resist reopening of Nato supply: Fazl

ISLAMABAD: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Friday that his party would continue to resist the reopening of Nato supply.

Speaking to the media, Fazl said Parliaments recommendations did not open the Nato supply rather prohibited supplies to Afghanistan.

Fazl maintained his party would work to stop the reopening of Nato supplies and the recommendations had laid the ground work for a strong foreign policy.

Fazl further said the recommendation to end verbal agreements with the US was included due to the JUI-F.

On Thursday Parliament approved the revised recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.

Pakistan Army facing difficulties in Gyari rescue operation

RAWALPINDI: Director General Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Athar Abbas Saturday said that Pakistan Army is facing difficulties in Gyari rescue operation due to harsh weather, however 24-hour round the clock operation continued.

Pakistan Army arranged a media briefing regarding Gyari sector calamity. Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Ashfaq Nadeem flanked by DG ISPR briefed the media about the magnitude of the incident and military rescue operations.

He said that Pakistan Air force (PAF) is also making all out efforts for the rescue of Pakistan army soldiers trapped in avalanche.

He said that assistance was also sought from international organizations and friend countries, adding that teams from Germany, Switzerland and China had reached the area.

The DGMO said the American team also reached Pakistan and it would kick off work after the improvement of weather conditions. Gen Nadeem said that a team from Norway would also reach to the area soon.

Replying to a question, he said that 139 people including soldiers and civilians were present in the Battalion headquarters at the time of the incident.

Gen Nadeem said that the magnitude of the tragedy was so big that local rescue facilities in the region were not enough while movement of heavy equipments was also very difficult.

He told as many as 400 troops and some 60 civilians are currently taking part in rescue and search operation.

He said that that some small avalanches had also been falling in the area.

The DGMO said that all entire nation and army was praying for a miracle for the recovery of soldiers alive.

PFDC fashion week opens with catwalks, trend show

LAHORE: The four-day (April 13-16) grand Sunsilk fashion week by the Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC) opened at the Expo Centre in Johar Town on Friday.

This April marks the fifth consecutive PFDC fashion week, the third year of prêt & porter fashion.

The first day was structured into two acts: three ramp shows (each consisting of six designers), and a trends show put together from the works of participating designers.

The Act 1 of week began with the sister duo Nickie Nina’s latest prêt a porter collection ‘Royal Military’. Though Nickie-Nina are better known for their sleek silhouettes and flowing clothes, this collection was a complete diversion from their well-known design sensibility.

The collection encompassed the strength and regal appeal of the military: the cuts and silhouette were inspired by the expert and almost rigid tailoring of military uniforms, as well as the sophistication and elegance of the armed forces. The silhouette was therefore more structured the lines more straight and rigid and the embellishments even more detailed than before. The colour palette was diverse and taken from traditional military shades along with an assortment of military insignia, medals and badges.

Next on the runway was Karachi-based designer Tazeen Hasan with her prêt a porter women’s wear collection ‘Evocative’. The collection is based in chiffons and the cuts are soft and feminine. The embellishments include frilling, interspersed with an extensive use of sequins, bugle beads and floral ornamentation.

Act 1’s second show belonged to the AZZA’s spring/summer 2013 women’s wear collection ‘Inheritance”’ an ode to the creative director, Azeeza Desai Khan’s Indian and Afghani roots. The designer used artisanal textile craft of South Asia through rich embellishments, hand embroideries and silks fused with Western modernized cuts. The collection leveraged dimensional South Asian textiles including pure silks, chiffon, net and organza alongside antiqued gold and silk thread finished embroideries.

Opening for Day 1’s Act 2 was Élan’s collection titled ‘Flights of Fantasy’.

The designer, Khadijah Shah, took her design inspiration from fascination with Chinese designs resulting in her compilation of Oriental imagery put together over the course of several years. The colour palette ranged from popping yellow, pink, lime and electric blue along with neutrals; navy and cream. Khadijah has designed and produced two prints specifically for the collection; a white floral with butterflies and Chinese calligraphy and a cobalt cloud pattern — both uniquely oriental.

Together the prints and plains were subtly colour blocked and juxtaposed to create a refreshing spring palette. For this collection, the designer had also reproduced Chinese art in sequin and cut glass embellishments for different pieces. It was a versatile collection which could be worn in many different ways and to that end there was an array of pants, tops, jackets and dresses that can be mixed and matched and dressed up or down depending on how one chooses to pair them.

Next on the runway was Muse with an Autumn/Winter 2012/13 women’s wear, hitting deep at the feminine heart. The collection consisted of pieces worked with delicate sequins in animal prints, as well geometric patterns. Fabrics used were crepes in powder blue, molten purple, emerald green and black.

The last designer collection on the runway belonged to Mohsin Ali — women’s wear collection ‘Baran-i-Ishq’. Taking inspiration from the joy and rebirth that the season of spring brings, Mohsin’s latest collection celebrated the return of the season with a collection based in chiffon, jamawar and silk.

The first day’s finale was the ‘Trends Show’, which aimed to highlight the trends for the upcoming season through 15 ‘looks’ put together from the works of fourteen participating designers.

Zardari urges Gilani to consult parties over Seraiki province

MULTAN: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday called upon Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to immediately start consultative process with all the political parties with a view to make a separate Seraiki province in South Punjab.

The president said this during his meeting with a delegation of Peoples’ lawyer forum here.

Spokesperson to the president Senator Farhatullah Babar while giving details of the meeting said that the president was of the view that it was not politics but meant to respect and honour the aspiration of the people of South Punjab who have been feeling deprived for over sixty years and were demanding their just rights.

The president said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) promised giving identity to the people of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and we fulfilled our promise. Similarly we gave rights to our Balochi brothers and the people of Gilgit Baltistan. Now, he said, we have promised the people of this belt to cater to their aspirations and we would do our best to honour our commitment.

He said that the people of this area have every right to demand and have their own province and the party’s leadership respect their wishes and aspirations.

He said that this was the right time to give what people have been asking for so long. “If giving rights to the people is a crime, we will continue to commit such crimes,” Senator Babar quoted the president as saying.

The president said that meeting the aspirations of the people of South Punjab would further strengthen the federation and not weaken it.

He vowed to give the rights to the people of South Punjab during the tenure of the present government.

The president also said that PM Gilani was being targeted because of his support to the Seraiki province and also for his support to the party’s leadership.

Earlier, the president also had separate meetings, one with the parliamentarians belonging to South Punjab and the other with the women office bearers of the party belonging to Multan, Khanewal, Vehari and Lodhran districts.

During his meetings, the president said that he felt great pleasure to be present among the representatives of the South Punjab and he would be regularly visiting the belt in future also.

India set to test new long-range rocket next week

NEW DELHI: India is within days of test-firing a long-range rocket capable of reaching deep into Asia and Europe, a move that would bring the emerging power into a small club of nations with intercontinental defence capabilities.

Scientists are preparing to launch the nuclear warhead-enabled Agni V, with a range of more than 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), between April 18 and 20, a defence ministry official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. The official asked not to be named.

Only the permanent members of the UN Security Council -China, Russia, France, the United States and the United Kingdom, along with Israel, are believed to have such long distance missiles.

The launch will be closely monitored by India's nuclear-armed rivals China and Pakistan and by Western countries, but is unlikely to draw the kind of criticism aimed at North Korea after its own failed long-range rocket launch on Thursday.

India has a no-first-use policy and says its nuclear weapons and missiles are for defensive purposes only. "India's missile programme is not directed against any country. The missiles are purely for the purpose of deterrence," said Ravi Kumar Gupta, a senior scientist and director at the government-run Defence Research and Development Organisation that developed the rocket.

"No first use has always been our policy," he said. The Agni V is designed to be the most advanced version of the indigenously built Agni series, the defence ministry official said. It is powered by solid rocket propellants and can be transported by road. India has tested several missiles in the past few years as part of its programme which started in the 1960s. (Reuters)

UN chief says North Korea rocket launch 'deplorable'

GENEVA: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned North Korea's rocket launch as "deplorable" and a threat to regional stability.

"Despite its failure, the launch of a so-called 'application satellite' by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is deplorable as it defies the firm and unanimous stance of the international community," Ban's spokesman said in a statement.

North Korea launched on Friday a long-range rocket that appeared to have disintegrated soon after blastoff and fallen into the sea, South Korean and Japanese authorities said.

"The launch is in direct violation of Security Council Resolution 1874 and threatens regional stability," the statement said, referring to a 2009 resolution demanding the state halt further nuclear tests and any launches using ballistic missile technology.

Ban "urges the DPRK not to undertake any further provocative actions that will heighten tension in the region," the spokesman said.

"He reaffirms his commitment to working for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and helping the people of the DPRK, in particular, by addressing the serious food and nutrition needs of the most vulnerable." (AFP)

Siachen tragedy: Search, rescue operation continues at full pace

RAWALPINDI: The search and rescue operation at Gayari continues at full pace despite severe weather conditions, blizzard and low temperatures.

The spirit of troops busy in rescue operation is high, who are determined to dig out their valiant comrades from tonnes of snow, says a press release issued by ISPR here on Friday.

The low temperature poses serious challenge to the effectiveness of plant equipment too.

Disregarding the difficulties posed by 145 ft high pile of snow in the vicinity and extreme cold at the bottom of excavation, the troops are attempting a horizontal tunnel at the base of main excavation site to access suspected location of a structure to reach out to survivors.

The access tracks have been improved. Some infantry troops grouped into small teams continued to be employed on the periphery for search work. The outflow of water channel remains the same.

AFP adds: Blizzard conditions on Friday hit rescuers searching for people buried by an avalanche at a high-altitude Pakistani army camp as more foreign teams were due in the country to help operations.

A huge wall of snow crashed into the remote Siachen Glacier base high in the mountains on Saturday morning, smothering an area of one square kilometre (a third of a square mile).

Specialist high altitude teams from the United States, Germany and Switzerland are being sent by road and air to the remote site, the military said, while units from China and Norway are due to arrive in Islamabad soon.

Search teams are looking for the trapped soldiers and civilians at six different points on the site, around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) up in the mountains.

Troops are attempting to dig a horizontal tunnel at the base of the main excavation site to reach what is thought to be one of the camp buildings.

More than 450 rescuers are working in sub-zero temperatures at the site, though experts have said there is virtually no chance of finding any survivors.

Pictures of some of the soldiers who came under avalanche at Gayari Sector Siachen on 7 April 2012

   
 
 
Massive relief and rescue effort is in progress at Gayari. Another priority point (Sixth Site) has been added to the search and rescue work which is under way at already five identified points. At present 15 heavy machines which include Dumpers, Dozers, Excavators and Loaders are working at the search site.
At point one, excavating has gone down upto 115 feet. Work will start at 130 feet long horizontal tunnel with a dia of 3 meters to attain access to the accommodation area.
 At point two, excavation work has gone down to 100 feet.

A 450 meters long access track has been developed and improved by adding sub grade to improve traction for wheeled plant equipment on the avalanche to access the priority points.  The work on both main access tracks has been carried out to increase the total length to 1.5 kilometers.
The weather continues to be harsh and unfriendly, posing operational and administrative difficulties for both men and machines busy in the rescue operation. However, the trying weather hazards and colossal work at hand have not been able to flinch resolve of man busy in the rescue efforts.

 

  
  


Rescue work by Pak Army at Gayari Sector Siachen. (12-04-2012) – Photo ISPR

PSO Supports Pakistan Army in Siachen Relief Operations

Karachi— Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is fuelling the relief efforts being undertaken in the Siachen glacier region through the supply of High SpeedDiesel (HSD) to the Pakistan Army.

PSO has dispatched an immediate consignment of 40,000 liters of HSD for use in the rescue operations taking place in the Gyari region of Siachen. These rescue efforts are taking place in the wake of an avalanche that engulfed an army camp on Saturday morning, and left 135 brave soldiers buried under mounds of snow. Keeping in view the urgency of the situation, PSO not only provided the fuel supplies on a priority basis; it has also geared up its logistical operations in the region to ensure continouos and ongoing support for the armed forces.

PSO in its role as the country’s leading fuel supplier has always stood by the nation in its times of need. The company also pledges that it will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistan Army and prays for the safe return of our brave soldiers.